Coronavirus Update

18.3.2020

With lots of questions and uncertainty I wanted to outline what we have been doing in school and our contingency plan in the event of any school closure in light of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the increase in the number of confirmed cases in the UK.

Our first priority is the health and wellbeing of our whole school community and I want you to know that we and our partners at the Severn Academies Educational Trust are taking  every precaution and following the advice from the Department for Education (DfE) and Public Health England (PHE).

· if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started

· if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community

· for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day     isolation period.

The symptoms are:

A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)

A new, continuous cough

I can confirm that currently we have 3 members of staff and 24 pupils self-isolating as a  precautionary measure. Some families are following the advice to self isolate due to family members falling into the high risk categories. We advise that each family assesses their own circumstances but we remain open for pupils that are not displaying any symptoms listed above.

However, if we are required to close our school, we will take the necessary steps to ensure you are informed of the closure and that the effect on pupils’ education is limited with the distribution of work packs and/or links to online materials that can be used. Texts messages with direction to our school website will be sent out before Friday.

In the event that we do close the school, you will be informed via text message and advised on how long we expect the closure to last. Please check that you have provided us with your most up-to-date contact details to ensure you receive all updates and any correspondence regarding a closure. If you need to provide us with new details, please contact the school office on 01562 850268. 

As a matter of course, we have been encouraging a higher level of handwashing and monitoring coughs and sneezes, ensuring all pupils follow the NHS catch it, bin it, kill it       advice.

On arrival all pupils wash their hands and use the hand sanitizers we have across the school.

In addition to this, our cleaning regimes have been upgraded accordingly.

We ask that parents limit the need to enter the school and only use the office area if needed. Communication to school can be made via email office@wolverleysebright.worcs.sch.uk  

Should you want to find out more information you can find links to all the latest advice and guidance on the Worcestershire County Council website at: 

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/coronavirus

In addition, the Department for Education have launched a helpline, to answer questions about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) related to education:

Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows: 

Phone: 0800 046 8687 

Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk  

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)  

As an important part of our school community, I would ask that you repeat the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ message at home and encourage thorough handwashing to help discourage the spread of infection. Also to look out for each other and support our most vulnerable at this time.

If you think your child may have been exposed to or has coronavirus, please contact the school on 01562 850268 at the earliest opportunity.  

I reiterate, the latest position as being, there are no confirmed cases at Wolverley Sebright.  I will continue to keep you updated on the latest advice and, to let you know if there is any change in the current situation at school. 

Yours faithfully,

Shelley Reeves-Walters

Headteacher